COLIN Gadd eyes the future of Dumaresq Dam as a spike in vandalism and illegal dumping there has forced a rethink on camping.Armidale Dumaresq Council is mulling locking the beauty spot at night and turning it over to eco-tourism.“Following the closure of Apex lookout at night, anti-social behaviour has been displaced to other areas, namely North Armidale Sporting Complex and Dumaresq Dam,” rangers reported to Council on Monday. “Staff have reported an increase in fires being lit … and the evidence of associated drinking parties. Illegal dumping of rubbish has also been noted at Dumaresq Dam.”Officers are looking at employing security guards to lock up the facility at night, although this has to be costed.Cr Gadd said the rise in vandalism at the popular beauty spot seemed to start after camping was forbidden there in February.

GREY nomads and campers could be permanently banished from Dumaresq Dam under a new management plan.

The popular beauty spot had become a de facto camping site until its septic toilet system broke in December, forcing a rethink on its use by Armidale Dumaresq Council.

A number of options for the site were mulled by councillors, including turning the area into an ecotourism facility.That venture would have cost ratepayers about 27,300 a year, although about $23,200 of that would have been recouped with camping and licence fees. Instead, councillors opted for the cheaper option of maintaining the facility exclusively for Armidale residents and their visitors.That will cost about $12,250 a year to maintain. (When we went to school our maths were better than this)

CAMPING at Dumaresq Dam might be a thing of the past as council weighs up the long-term future of the popular recreation facility.The summer hotspot has been closed since last week when it was discovered that the internal wall of the on-site septic tank had collapsed.Under section 109 of the Local Government Act 1993, the approval for Armidale Dumaresq Council to operate a waste water management facility was revoked.At Monday night’s council meeting, councillors voted to move quickly to restore day use facilities as a matter of priority while the school holidays were continuing.“This is a great facility and it would nice to see people back out there as quickly as possible,” Cr Margaret O’Connor said.

Another popular free camping site in New South Wales could soon be charging overnighting grey nomads and others a ‘nominal’ fee.In the not-too-distant future, campers at Dumaresq Dam near Armidale can expect to be charged a fee of up to $10 a night.The Dumaresq Dam Progress Association is in the process of drafting a new management plan for the site, which is used by locals for picnics, fishing, bushwalking and kayaking, as well as by grey nomads.

PLANS to turn Charleston Willows into a camping ground could threaten the viability of the Armidale Showground, its chairman says.Rob Taber, Chairman of the Showground Reserve Trust says it has been wrestling with council for the past 12 months to be recognised as a caravan park, even though it had been used as such for 100 years.

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